Addressing a citizen's concern as it relates to citations or tickes means very politely to encourage them to follow the processes in place to properly argue it. The case belongs in a courtroom as per the processes for appeal, that is where this needs to be argued. That is where the citizen should have been politely directed to do. If there is a problem with the ordinance itself and the way it has been handled, then it needs be addressed at council meetings to find resolution. The scenario sounds oddily familar, parking comes to mind. The ordinances are unpopular and maybe some should be re-visited as to whether or not they are still needed, but what has occured with ordinances, has anything changed? Has any been re-visited to find solutions that will work? Same concept applies here, if we have a problem with the ordinance, then challenge it and make an argument for change through the processes, ie, city council workshops and meetings. And if council as a whole has a concern about some ordinances, then my recommendation is lets dig them up, get them on the table for review, and fix them if needed if they do not make sense. That is how it should be handled.

Well said. Everyone deserves equal treatment, not special treatment. The rules in place are to avoid just that. If they were not in place, there would be people lined up to get the mayor to fix their tickets for them if he thinks they got a raw deal. Frankly..the Mayor is an idiot who would do well just to keep his mouth shut until he leaves office without someone showing him the door rudely.

maybe the mayor should have threatened the city attorney with a frozen steak like the one i witnessed him strike a customer in his own establisment.

speak softly, and carry a frozen steak i always say.....

“Maybe we shouldn’t just let it go, but we have in the past,” Ms. Boyer said. “It’s just not worth fighting him.”

Herein lies the problem. Ms. Boyer and a handful of others have attempted to rein in hizzoner with absolutely no support from the majority of the council. Consequently, his conduct continues to be outrageous and improper. His buffoonery is an embarrassment to this community. However, with no one to hold him accountable in either the council or the community [witness all the support on this forum from those who say, in essence, "awww...he's such a character..."], he is exactly what this community deserves.

Leavenworth just fired its mayor for actions which are not that dissimilar. Until citizens stand up and tell hizzoner we expect better behavior, we'll never see it.

it seems to me that there is another avenue which would be perhaps just as effective. personally, i think that a citizen response made in chamber during the public comment would almost be better than a removal.

this, of course, would require that the speakers not lower themselves to the level which would reflect the mayor's protest. lately there was one comment from the public calling for the mayor's resignation. that comment went far beyond the time limit, was a shouting tirade and should have resulted in removal of the speaker.

if citizens don't like shearin's behavior, and i do not, they have every right to speak to that before the full council. just keep it VERY CIVIL and impersonal.

frankly, i don' think he CAN stop. i also agree with councilmember boyer that it would be less than productive to pursue request for resignation. that action would only result in causing a difficult election season, one which might very well only exacerbate the situation well into the next term.

Does anyone know, I can't remember reading it if so. Once Mr. Capell received the complaint from the city attorney, that he had a conversation with Mr Shearin, to get both sides of the story? Demand or recommendation?
Management 101.

shocked. those two don't have conversations........ they are both wrong in their own ways.

the mayor was well within his rights to call STAFF for an opinion. when ( if) he asked for a result he overstepped the current protocol. his vulgarism and shouting certainly overstepped the boundaries of his office and any basic comprehension of polite behavior.

the council has to have direct access to at least legal advice. the city charter is in dire need of revision in that instance.

Mr. Bozarth really seems like a level headed and professional guy from what I've read. He seems like a straight shooter and the voice of reason on the council and seems as if he would be able to work with a very difficult city manager to work with. Any thoughts on this guy as Mayor from those that follow city government more closely than I do?

The Statement "we have bigger fish to fry" sums it up.

This man has gotten his 15 minutes of fame, and hopefully he will admit his guilt, and pay the ticket, rather than tie up the court system with taxpayers money for a trial.

He was, after all, walking in the middle of the street, when there was a sidewalk present.

I compare this to people who are speeding, while one car may be stopped by an officer, 30 more go by speeding faster than the one who got caught. Its just the luck of the draw, everyone commits these petty crimes, and if you are caught, accept the responsibility for the fact that you were the one caught, and move on.

To "Big Daddy" Please stop thinking that you are above the law and this attention has been brought upon you because you are Black, that is not the case. The reason that this attention has been brought upon you is because you acted like a fool.

I have no issues with any one because of their race, but I do have a very low tolerance for fools, and their behavior.

To Our Mayor, shame on you for even thinking of burying this issue because of the potential of the race card being played. That was definately not the right thing to do. Letting fools get away with stuff like this, is simply a way to create a predjudice that was neve there.

Do you know how many of us are sick of hearing that officials are looking the other way out of fear that the race card will be played? Maybe the news press should take a public survey that goes like this.

Should charges against any minority person be dropped simply because they are a minority, and the government is afraid they will sue, if they are charged with their crimes?

Yes_______

NO________

If memory serves me correct nearly one year ago the council was made aware of an alleged misconduct bringing discredit to the city and they did not open an investigation thereby allowing the complaint to simply be forgotten.
Guess you could say precedence has been set, or a better depiction might be be "what goes around comes around".

where are father guido and second citizen when we need them?

someone send out the bat signal to save gotham.

I would like to point out, that minorities are not the only ones who at times get caught breaking what some of us think are petty laws and sometimes it is not fairly applied, but I don't believe it has anything to do with race! I totally agree with the comments, and I am paraphrasing, " when you break the law, man up and pay the fine and move on" Well said!!! A relative of mine said the "F" word to her neighbor in a dispute that was ongoing. They both yelled, in my opinon both acted foolishly. The neighbor called police and my relative got a ticket for saying the "F" word in public. Less than one week later, this same neighbor used the F word to her, and we even video taped it. Guess what the cops said?? Not against the law to say the F word. Tell that to the Judge that fined my relative. Moral? Sometimes it is fair sometimes it isn't. No one ever said life was fair and if they did, they lied. It aint about race, just because you are a minority. Sometimes it is just foolish behavior. FYI, if a cop says, don't walk in the street, get on the sidewalk, I would do that and not argue, then the ticket could have been avoided altogether and we could argue about something else.

There are many laws and ordinances prohibiting certain conduct. People would probably be surprised what is and isn't prohibited.

Link to City Ordinances:
http://www.stjoemo.info/clerk/code.cfm

Link to State Statues:
http://www.moga.mo.gov/STATUTES/STATUTES.HTM

Why on earth would Council members need both sides of the story? Now they are some sort of legal panel deciding guilt or innocence of people recieving tickets? That just opens the door for what has been fought against for years. People in government sweeping things under the rug.

I've heard about the "steak incident", but haven't seen anything more than just rumor. I can say this, however, had I been in his restaurant, and had the mayor struck me with a frozen steak, I can say, with certainty, he'd have been wearing that steak in such a way that he would have had to have had it surgically removed......
Perhaps it's the lack of response to his bullying tirades that continually enables him to behave the way he does. I also feel the City Manager was absolutely in the wrong. Both of them need to go. I'm appalled that our City Council doesn't appear to have the fortitude to do something that clearly, they all see as wrong. If they can't even stand up against Mayor Shearin, and either formally discipline him, or demand his resignation, how can we trust them to be capable of doing many of the OTHER difficult things expected of city leadership?

pops - Appears you and I are pretty much on the same page with this one.

I was, however, not making reference to the alleged steak incident with the Mayor but rather another matter.

The structure within the city is what needs "fixing" and until that is recognized and responsibility of authority restored to the elected officials where it belongs problems such as this are never going to end.

I agree completely, apmastrangelo. I still think the first move should have been with the Council taking strong steps to discipline both the Mayor AND the City Manager. They've both been out of line, on more than one occasion. It wouldn't have hurt MY feelings had the Council decided to fire them both, or, at the very least, suspend them both, without pay, for a month. Hey!! During that month, they could have sent them both to their rooms!! No supper, either!

Does anyone think that possibly the mayor and city manager are the ones who are holding this city back? You have to admit, this city has been in decline for years now. Anyone ever heard stories of how this town used to be back in the day when the Stockyards was booming or when there was a real amusement park at Lake Contrary.

You really have to wonder if its the citizens or the city government who is responsible for holding the city back. With all this bickering, not working together and all the "urination" matches, how can the city council really work at bettering the city?

the steak incident happened about 8-10 years ago when "dantes" was up and running. there was a female patron at the establishment that ordered her steak rather rare. the cook had a difficult time getting it cooked to her liking, and she sent it back 3 times. at this point, our mayor emerged from the kitchen with a raw steak nearly frozen, and slapped the customer in the face with it, and said, (i may be paraphrasing here a bit, it's been a while) "here's your steak, i hope it's done enough for ya." that is how i remember witnessing the incident. nevermind the fact that during this point in time, the democrat club's headquarters were at dante's hall, right adjacent to the eatery. i was shocked and appauled, cancelled my order paid for my drinks, and appetizer, and left. a few years later we elected him mayor. this was in the paper for a couple of days, and to my knowlege the patron sued and won a settlment from either sharin or his buisiness. this incident sticks out in my mind as just how unevenly tempered, and volitle this man's temper is. good thing he's not looking for WMD.

now onto the city council. with the sweeping changes in the people sitting on the council, and the county commission, the problem is inexperience. not too often have we had a mayor, county commission, and a city council that seemed so inept to the needs of the offices they were elected to. more experienced leadership is needed in the elected positions, period. that means people that remember how nice a place st joe used to be. or even office holders that were voted out. things are obviously worse with new leadership. even with our downtroden local economy, and unemployment, this still is a nice place. steps need to be taken to keep it that way.